A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to physical exercises performed by a human to improve and/or maintain fitness, wellness or athletic ability. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for pacing human body exercises by synchronizing exercise motions to audible cues.
B. Description of Background Art
The importance of physical exercise to the health of an individual is well established. It is known that regular exercise of the proper kind strengthens the cardio-vascular system of a person in addition to strengthening the muscles. Also, regular exercise improves the overall appearance and self-image of an individual, and therefore can have a beneficial effect upon his or her mental health. From a purely economic standpoint, employers have found it desirable to encourage the physical fitness of their employees. Resistance to disease, decreased absenteeism and an overall increase in productivity have been observed among employees who keep fit. Regular exercise is an important part of any physical fitness regimen.
Walking, jogging and swimming, to name just a few popular physical activities, are all good exercises. However, because of constraints imposed upon an individual because of limitations on available time, or because of the physical location of his or her workplace, it is often inconvenient for him or her to partake as often as might be desired in beneficial exercises of the type listed above. Also, some exercises such as the type performed by weight lifters or athletes require the utilization of various types of equipment such as weights and/or springs to provide a resistance force to movements of the body.
For those reasons, a growing number of people utilize commercially operated gymnasiums or fitness centers to obtain their needed exercises. Such facilities usually have are re-configurable to enable performance of a variety of exercises using a machine, such as a dual adjustable pulley machine sold by Star Trac, Inc., 14410 Myford Road, Irvine, Calif. 92606
An important advantage offered by gymnasiums and fitness training centers is the availability of knowledgeable trainers to assist clients with their exercises. Trainers are familiar with the proper use of the various items of exercise equipment available at their respective facilities, and thus able to advise their clients on how best to safely and effectively use that equipment. Of equal importance, some trainers, such as those who have graduate degrees in exercise physiology, are qualified to establish fitness regimens to suit the goals of a particular client. Such fitness regimens can include diet recommendations, but will also include an outline of specific exercise sequences or workouts which the client should regularly perform to achieve a desired result, such as muscle toning, fat loss, or strength and endurance augmentation.
Most human physical exercises which are intended to improve or maintain wellness, fitness, strength or endurance involve repetitive motions. Usually such exercises involve resistance forces which oppose the motions of body members. A simple example is a push-up exercise, in which the force of gravity acting on a person's body weight provides a resistance force to elevating the upper part of the body. Other resistance exercises, such as a cable row, may include cyclically pulling and releasing a handle which is attached to a cord which is looped over a pulley to elevate weights, a spring, or other such apparatus which provides a fixed or variable resistance force, a predetermined number of times. An exercise set typically consists of a predetermined number of pull and release cycles. A workout consists of a predetermined number of sets, interspersed with rest periods of a predetermined duration.
A typical exercise regimen for a gymnasium client can include a sequentially performed series of different exercises, such as push-ups, barbell arm curls, leg weight lifts, etc. Moreover, when as is typical, multiple clients are simultaneously exercising at a gymnasium, the clients may be simultaneously performing different exercises on different machines, or using different equipment.
Repetitive exercises typically include three distinct phases identified by exercise physiologists. The phases includes a first, “eccentric” phase in which the prime mover muscles, i.e., master muscles which are primarily responsible for producing an intended motion, lengthen under an externally applied tension or load. The second “isometric” phase of an exercise consists of a pause at the end of the eccentric phase. The third, last phase of an exercise, in which the prime mover muscles are contracted and shortened by the person exercising, is referred to as the “concentric” phase.
It has been found that repetitive exercises routines are most effective when the rates at which body parts are cyclically moved are reasonably precisely timed. However, it has also been found that human perception of the time durations of various phases of typical resistance exercises is rather poor. For example, it is a common tendency for a person performing repetitive pulling exercise cycles to perceive the time duration of the concentric phase of a cycle in which substantial muscle tension is required, to be longer than a muscle relaxation (eccentric) portion of the cycle, even though the time intervals might be the same. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide precise timing cues to a person performing a repetitive exercise, so that the duration of each phase of the exercise, as well as the repetition frequency of each complete exercise cycle in a set, are both maintained at predetermined, constant time durations.
The duration of each phase of an exercise, and the repetition frequency or tempo of the exercise may be controlled by a personal trainer, exercise physiologist or other such qualified person who can provide voice directions or cues to a client and thus pace the timing of the client's exercise movements. Sometimes the trainer may use a stop watch to guide the timing of his voice cues. However, providing pacing cues can sometimes distract a trainer from his or her observations of a client's exercise motions, and from giving corrective instructions to the client during an exercise. Therefore, it is very difficult for a trainer to issue pacing cues at a constant tempo while simultaneously observing and giving corrective instructions to an individual. Also, since an individual trainer may direct multiple clients who are simultaneously performing different exercises, it is usually not possible for a trainer using existing methods to provide constant-tempo cues while simultaneously directing and observing the multiple individual clients, especially when they are performing different exercises.
The present invention was conceived of to provide a method and apparatus for pacing repetitive human physical exercises which offers a solution to the above-mentioned problems of pacing such exercises.